Facebook Hiatus

Hi Everyone,

As tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and Lent will be upon us, I thought I’d take the chance to talk about one of my goals for Lent this year: I am choosing to give up Facebook for the six weeks leading up to Easter.

Christians approach this season with a number of different priorities.  Some people will fast from something, a certain type of food or from cigarettes, for example, to remind them of the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  When you understand how hard it is to give up something like chocolate or meat, you will more fully appreciate what Jesus gave up in order to save people from their own sinful natures.

Others give up things during Lent in order to purify their bodies, thoughts or hearts.  Perhaps someone might try to give up anger during this time, or comparing him or herself to others.  These kinds of attempts are trickier to measure, but they too aim to focus one’s attention on Jesus, who, Christians believe, was the only example of pure holiness in human form.

Others choose to focus not on what they can give up but on what they can add to their lives (though, of course, this is really just the other side of the coin, since it’s impossible to add anything to our lives without taking something away, and vice versa).  Perhaps they might aim to take five minutes to pray every morning before work.  Or perhaps they might choose to tithe regularly for the first time.  

Though the intention of Lent is good, it can, like anything, be abused.  People can approach it with self-centered motivations (“If I give up snacking for Lent, I’ll surely lose weight!”).  People can use it as a way to try to gain God’s favor (“If I can just give up coffee this year, I will show God that I’m really dedicated.”).  Probably most common, people can use this time to show off and to boast about their own self-perceived holiness (“So for Lent this year, I think God is calling me to meditate for two hours each day because last year, when I did only one hour, it just didn’t feel challenging enough.”).

As with Lent, people approach Facebook with a wide variety of motivations, some more worthwhile than others.  Facebook has been around for less than ten years, but there are already over one billion people who use the site, and it has already changed the way we communicate, the way we run our businesses, and even the way we think about ourselves.  Precisely because it is so widespread, Facebook is many different things to different people.  It can be used to reunite long-lost friends, to organize an event, to learn about major happenings in the lives of friends, to share videos and photos, to express an opinion, to discover entertainment or information on the internet, to chat with people, and the list goes on and on.  

What’s more, people all have their own Facebook protocol or etiquette, which can lead to embarrassment (“How could he tag that photo of me without asking?”), or to confusion, (“Does ‘It’s complicated’ mean we’re together or that we’ve broken up?”), or to anger (“She knows I hate bringing up my political views in public -- why would she write that comment on my wall?”).  

So why, exactly, am I giving up Facebook for Lent?  This summer, The Atlantic Monthly published an article entitled, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”  [Here’s the link to the article if you’re interested.]  The general conclusion was that though studies have shown that people can feel more lonely after using Facebook, they can also use it to boost their social life.  In other words, like all forms of communication, it is a neutral tool, able to be used for positive and negative ends.  And I believe this to be true, based on my own experiences with Facebook.  I certainly don’t think using Facebook is a sin in an of itself, but I do believe there are better and worse ways of using it.  Furthermore, I also believe it to be a luxury, and I think it’s good to have periods without luxuries every so often, so that we understand a.) that we can function without them, and b.) how best to appreciate them.  

There is great freedom in the way that Christians can celebrate Lent, just as there is great freedom in the way that people can make use of Facebook.  The important thing is  to examine your own life and discern what degree of restraint is appropriate for you.  I know enough people who I respect greatly who have given up Facebook altogether that I have been wondering whether I too should give it up for good.  But my litmus test is: does it help relationships or hurt them?  Is it making my relationships more superficial or more profound?  For me, Facebook still provides enough opportunities for genuine connection to people for it to be worthwhile.  My hope is that by giving it up for six weeks, I’ll be more attuned to the ways it can foster relationships, and more ready to ignore the ways it can trivialize ties between people.

Though the methods of celebrating Lent may vary, the common denominator is that they  all prepare us for and point to Easter.  So what does Facebook point to?  In the end, it seems that Facebook is about connections, whether between one friend and another, between a company and a consumer, or between a grandparent and his faraway grandchild.

And in the end, Lent is about connecting too.  It’s about realizing that our sublimely profound God, who we, in our utmost triviality and depravity could never approach, has deigned to look our direction; He has “friended” us.  

To those who celebrate it, peace and joy during this Lenten season, and to everyone, have a good week!

Sarah/Mouse